There’s a lot of talent on the move right now. So it’s a great time to lean into helping your portfolio companies: Close their top candidates, faster. Here are a few things that your companies probably are not doing yet when it comes to closing top candidates. Using 1, 2 … … or all 3 … Read more
Just got this question (here it is again, if you can’t see the screengrab above) from a reader. So let me answer that one … and then 8 other questions about informational interviews that they didn’t ask 🙂 Try to get informational interviews with as many people in as many firms as you can. Don’t … Read more
A while back, I was at one of my favorite NYC tech events: The one where Charlie O’Donnell and a bunch of sponsors take over the original Shake Shack: And a few hundred folks from the startup and VC community come to nosh on burgers and fries (and maybe have a grown up beverage or … Read more
I remember the salad days of working as an associate in VC. The money was good, the views from our office were unbelievable, and I learned all sorts of things on the job that I never learned from the blogs or in the lecture hall. Years later, I’m still running into “inside baseball” stuff that … Read more
Founders rarely are “One and Done”. Most of them will start another company some day. You should keep this in mind. Especially when you see that their last company was acquired. Why? Most founders that go through an acquisition have an earnout period. So once the dust settles a few months after the deal closes… … Read more
Here are some things that I do to keep my web of connections warm, growing, and feeling appreciated. Many of them are things you can do, now, regardless of how big or small your network is right now… Remember it’s about them, not you. So bring to that Zoom or that coffee meeting 1, 2, … Read more
Will’s tweet inspired me to write this. He was talking about A rounds. I’m talking about angels in any round. Here goes: If you said “Yes” to invest in a company: There are only 2 things you need to do, right now. Sign and Wire. You don’t need to split hairs on terms… …that they … Read more
The other night, instead of packing for my flight: I sent out what felt like a zillion investor intros for a company I’m advising. I’m happy to do it for them. But it reminded me how wildly inefficient a process we deal with on both sides of the marketplace. Because aside from established firms: It’s … Read more
As your network grows: VCs will start to ping you for hot takes on founders or companies they’re checking out. Sometimes? They’re trying to get a read on the sector where that company’s operating. And sometimes they want to get a quick read on the founder. Here’s an actual example of one of these emails. … Read more
I’m about to show you a VC job search hack that almost anyone can do. Even if you don’t have a great network in the VC world yet. Here goes… 2 VC job seekers (clones!) interview for an associate role at the same firm. They both interview like pros, too! But here’s where the road … Read more
